6.12.2003
re: Iraqi Museums–a letter from a publicist
[Posted 12:07 PM by James Panero]
Hi Roger � The editors at Archaeology Magazine have posted an online feature with details about the looting of Iraq�s national treasures at the Mosul Museum and other sites in Northern Iraq. In addition, they�ve also posted three advance stories from the upcoming July/August issue, which focus on the pillaging of Iraq�s antiquities and the questions it raises in terms of preventing this type of archaeological tragedy in the future. Thought you might want all four pieces on your radar screen � especially considering your op-ed in today�s WSJ. If interested, links and brief descriptions are below. Thanks for your consideration � Laura Goldberg
In the North of Iraq: Mosul’s Museum, Hatra, and Nimrud (online feature)
http://m1e.net/c?19436005-dboVyJ6l/PZnc%40227327-8/gL8ehg5r..6
Correspondent Roger Atwood reports that the largest single loss at the museum in Mosul was of 30 bronze panels that once decorated a gate leading into the Assyrian city of Balawat. The future of sites outside the city is uncertain.
Spoils of War (feature, July/August 2003 issue advance)
http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0307/etc/war
Neil Brodie, coordinator of the Illicit Antiquities Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, writes: “In the days following the sack of Baghdad’s museums, the first question asked was: Why had coalition war planners and military commanders not done more to stop it from happening?”
Where Civilization Began (interview, July/August 2003 issue advance)
http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0307/etc/civilization
McGuire Gibson, an authority on Mesopotamian archaeology at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, talked to ARCHAEOLOGY in early May about his work in Iraq, the sacking of the Baghdad museum, and the global importance of the region’s cultural history.
Iraq’s Plundered Past (From the President, July/August 2003 issue advance)
http://www.archaeology.org/magazine.php?page=0307/etc/president
In response to the recent looting of Iraqi museums and other cultural institutions, the AIA has formed a Task Force on the Cultural Heritage of Iraq, chaired by AIA President Jane Waldbaum. The AIA, together with the Society for American Archaeology, has taken the lead in promoting the passage of the Iraq Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
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Laura B. Goldberg
Trylon Communications
New York, NY 10016
Phone – (212) 725-2295×15
Fax – (212) 725-2243
E-mail – [email protected]